奧朗德履行承諾 法國新內閣減薪30%大綱
French leader Francois Hollande's new Socialist government got down to work on Thursday with the first order of business a symbolic 30 percent pay cut for the president and ministers.
Following the cabinet's inaugural meeting, spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the salary reduction was to "set an example" as the government looks to tackle France's troubled public finances.
The move was also aimed at drawing a distinction between Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gross salary famously increased by 170 percent to 21,300 euros ($27,000) per month after he took office in 2007.
The gross salaries of Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will fall to 14,910 euros per month, while ministers' gross salaries will drop from 14,200 euros to 9,940 euros per month.
The head of the main opposition centre-right UMP party, Jean-Francois Cope, denounced the salary cut as a "sham", noting that the new government had 34 members -- 14 more than Sarkozy's first cabinet in 2007.
"Decreasing salaries by 30 percent cannot hide the simple fact that Francois Hollande's government will cost a lot more to the taxpayer," he said in a statement.
However Sarkozy's last government had 31 members including ministers and secretaries of state.
Senior ministers said the government's first concern would be to tackle the European debt crisis and push Hollande's vow to shift the European Union's economic focus from austerity to growth.
"The priority is to disentangle the crisis in Europe," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told news channel BFMTV. "I am profoundly European but we need a different Europe, a Europe that is much more focused on jobs."
Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici reiterated that Paris would not ratify the EU's fiscal austerity pact if it does not include measures to boost growth.
Moscovici also gave assurances that the Socialists would keep public finances under control.
"I want to be very clear, Francois Hollande has said it repeatedly, we must tackle the public debt, reduce deficits, and secure France's situation. That is fundamental, a country that runs up debt is a country that is getting poorer."法國新任總統弗朗索瓦-奧朗德帶領社會黨政府本週四正式履新，首項政策即宣佈對總統和所有內閣部長一律減薪30%。
在內閣就職會議後，女發言人娜賈•瓦洛-貝勒卡西姆表示，在政府尋求解決法國面臨的公共財政困難之際，減薪措施“樹立了榜樣”。
此舉是爲了將奧朗德同前任總統薩科齊區分開來，後者在2007年就任總統後，就把總統薪金增加了170%，達到每月2.13萬歐元(合2.7萬美元)。
奧朗德和總理讓馬克-埃羅的工資總額降至每月14910歐元，內閣部長的工資總額從每月14200歐元降至9940歐元。
主要反對黨、中右派人民運動聯盟的領袖讓-弗朗索瓦-科普認爲減薪是個“騙局”，指出新政府有34位內閣成員，比薩科奇2007年初就任時多出14名。
他在一份聲明中說：“奧朗德的政府會花納稅人更多的錢，減薪30%也不能掩蓋這一簡單的事實真相。”
但薩科奇離任時，內閣成員已達31人，包括內閣部長和政府祕書。
高級部長表示，法國政府的首要考慮是解決歐債危機，以及推動奧朗德的競選承諾，把歐盟的經濟焦點從節約轉向促進經濟成長。
法國外長洛朗•法比尤斯告訴新聞頻道BFMTV，“政府的優先要務是化解歐洲的危機。我完全是個歐洲人，但我們需要一個全然不同的歐洲，一個更加專注於就業的歐洲。”
法國財政部長皮埃爾-莫斯科維奇強調，除非歐盟財政緊縮條約的內容包括推動經濟成長的措施，否則法國不會覈准。
莫斯科維奇也承諾說，法國社會黨會把公共財政支出控制好。
他說：“我想說清楚，奧朗德已反覆重申，我們必須應對公共債務、削減赤字、穩定法國的局面。這些都是最根本的，一個債臺高築的國家只會越來越窮。”
